Fifty percent of India’s freshwater-based coal-fired power plants fail to meet water use standards, says a CSE study
NEW DELHI: Fifty percent of India’s freshwater-based coal-fired power plants, surveyed by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), do not meet the 2015 water use standards, said a new study.
The CSE, New Delhi-based environmental policy think-tank, surveyed 132 power plants, having total installed capacity of over 154 GW, and found that half of these freshwater-based plants did not comply with the specified standards. Majority of the non-complying plants belong to state-owned companies with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra possessing the maximum number of such plants.
The study, highlighting how the water-guzzling coal-based power industry is ignoring water regulations even six years after the norms were introduced, noted that the sector is adding to water stress in the country as about 48% of the existing coal power fleet is located in water-scarce districts.
